Prince Ashoka left Patliputra without meeting Prince Susheem. He was feeling sorry for him. Accompanying him was his trusted band of soldiers. In the midway the party came upon a very scenic place. Ashoka had rarely seen such natural beauty.
There were hills, green forest, eye soothing pastoral slopes, waterfalls, river and a clear water lake. All those natural blessings were arranged in a picture perfect set up. Prince Ashoka got thrilled.
He ordered his lieutenant to break the journey and camp there for a couple of days. The lieutenant looked at him puzzled, ‘‘Why Prince? I thought that it was imperative for us to reach Ujjaini as fast as possible to deal with the situation.’’
‘‘It was imperative, dear. But no more so. A little dereliction of duty is a youngman’s privilege. Being too much duty bound sometimes hurts near and dear ones. Have you ever realised that?’’
The lieutenant stared at the prince. Was he alluding to his brothers who were obviously being sidelined? He had never seen Ashoka in such an indulgent mood.
The prince spoke dreamily, ‘‘Of course, we must keep in mind the Emperor’s orders. But at the same time we can’t ignore the call of the mother nature. A little delay won’t do any harm.’’
Had nature cast its spell on Ashoka? The lieutenant wondered. Perhaps the nature’s power had waylaid the ruthlessness of Ashoka and was now stirring up his sleeping romantic side.
The soldiers pitched up the tents there. That night the prince expressed his wish to hear songs. The soldiers unit had some singers who used to sing martial songs to keep the soldiers pepped up. The lieutenant told them that they could as well sing love songs. Ashoka heard those songs with growing interest.
In the morning the confidants found Ashoka longingly gazing to the city situated at a visible distance. It was a pretty township. They could see the outlines of shiny palaces and beautiful buildings. It was a pleasing sight.
Ashoka talked to his commander about it. He asked, ‘‘What is the name of that town we see?’’
‘‘They tell me that it is called Vidisha,’’ the commander Suryaratna replied.
‘‘Vidisha! I have heard the name. Is it same Vidisha that is famous for the trade of precious stones jewellery, gold ornaments and such items of beauty?’’
‘‘Right, O Prince. The same.’’
‘‘Should we go to see the town before we proceed to Ujjaini? Just a sight seeing,’’ Prince Ashoka said.
‘‘As you wish prince. There is nothing wrong. I think towns folk would feel previleged to have you amongst them. Or do you want to go there incognito?’’
‘‘Why incognito? We are not thieves and we have no aggressive designs against the town. We shall go to the town as the friendly visitors in peace.’’
The commander looked at Prince Ashoka in surprise. Surely, Ashoka seemed to have changed overnight. He was no more his warrior stern.
It was decided that they would go to the town in the afternoon. The prince retired to his tent to rest.
In the afternoon Prince Ashoka accompanied by his lieutenant and the commander set out for the town. On their way they saw a bevy of girls in their finery with pooja thalis coming towards them. Obviously there was some temple that had escaped the notice of the soldiers.
Ashoka said, ‘‘They are going to temple, I guess which should be on this side. Have you seen any?’’
‘‘No, we did not see, Prince. It should be somewhere beyond the hillock out of sight,’’ the lieutenant opined. Suryaratna agreed, ‘‘That should be the case. We shall ask them. They are coming this way. The girl in the lead appears to be of royal connection.’’
‘‘Royal connection!’’ Ashoka echoed.
As the girls drew closer they could see that they were of great beauty without exception. But the lead girl was extra bedecked and graceful. Her undulating body sent the heart of Ashoka aflutter.
He could not help staring at her gawkily. For the first time in his life he totally forgot that he was mighty Prince Ashoka, the scourge of the enemies of the Magadha empire.
He stood frozen. Only his tongue dared to move to wet his lips that kept drying up fast as the nearing beauty created heat. There eyes met and Ashoka’s heart skipped a few beats.
The beauty turned red.
Prince Ashoka stammered, ‘‘O beauteous…lady! Do you g…g…go to temple?’’
The girl behind the lead girl chimed, ‘‘No sir. Our tradition is to worship the visiting young men who accosts the girls mid path.’’
Ashoka turned red. All the girls burst out laughing. Some giggled so violently that they almost dropped their pooja thali’s or some items therein.
Prince Ashoka stood utterly embarrassed as the lead girl too giggled on with her eyes fixed on him.
Suryaratna controlled the situation by introducing the prince to the girls, ‘‘Beauties! The person you are facing is the pride of the Magadha Empire, Honourable Prince Ashoka!’’
The girls suddenly stopped giggling. They looked impressed and Ashoka was now the centre of their attraction. But he still felt awkward.
The lead girl said, ‘‘Prince! Please forgive my friend for that joke. We didn’t know who you were. Sir, what were you asking?’’
‘‘Err…I said, are we going to the temple?’’
‘‘No sir, you are going to the town and we are going to the…’’ It was again the same joker girl.
There was another round of giggling.
This time the lieutenant and Suryaratna felt embarrassed at the discomfiture of their mighty Prince. Ashoka had never been laughed at so outrageously. But strangely Ashoka didn’t feel offended. Infact he experienced a strange sweet pleasure.
The ice had been broken between the two groups. So, the lieutenant said no more feeling a stranger, ‘‘Well, alright, we didn’t know that strangers were so laughed at in your town! Now you had your giggles at the cost of our gentleman Prince. Now our Prince has the right to get the answer of his question.’’
‘‘Would you repeat the question please?’’
‘‘Are you lovely beauties going to the temple?’’
The lead girl answered, ‘‘Honourable Prince! We are going to the Chaitya Vihara!’’
Prince Ashoka and his companions knew that Viharas were Buddhist worship places and monasteries. It was obvious that they were the Buddhists.
‘‘So, you are all pretty Buddhists? Very strange!’’
‘‘Strange? Why is that, sir?’’ the lead girl queried.
‘‘Isn’t Buddhism all about non-violence?’’
‘‘It is. We firmly believe in non-violence.’’
‘‘But you beauties must made many a young man die!’’ Prince Ashoka said triumphantly. He thought that at last he had his revenge.
The lead girl and the beauties blushed and sported shy smiles.
Suryaratna and the lieutenant could now afford some laughs. ‘‘Our prince has won in the end after all. He remains undefeated.’’
A girl spoke, ‘‘Don’t jump at conclusions, sir. Your Prince might have won here but may be, he has lost his heart. My sixth sense says so.’’
The lead girl blushed and hissed her companion.
Prince Ashoka said to his lieutenant, ‘‘Can you use your sixth sense and tell me who I have lost to?’’
The lieutenant looked flustered.
Suryaratna did the quick thinking and said, ‘‘Sir, We are warriors. When we go to the towns for peaceful sight seeing we leave behind our sixth senses. We shall have to borrow from the sixth sense beauty.’’
The sixth sense girl said, ‘‘Sir, our friend is called Vidisha. She is…’’
Vidisha cut her short, ‘‘Come on girls. Let us move, We are already late.’’ She turned to Prince Ashoka to say, ‘‘Wish you a pleasant sight seeing of our town, Prince. Please allow us to leave.’’
Without waiting for an answer she moved ahead. The other beauties followed her obediently. The Prince and his companions stared wistfully at their backs.
Prince Ashoka heaved a deep sigh.
Suryaratna and the lieutenant exchanged meaningful glances. Both were having their own guesses.
Meanwhile, Prince Ashoka had regained his authoritative stance. He spoke to Suryaratna, ‘‘Commander! You shall go to the town and find out about the parents of Vidisha. I and my lieutenant shall return to the camp. I have some thinking to do.’’
‘‘Sir, shall I bring her parents to you in the camp?’’ Suryaratna wanted to know.
Ashoka glared at him and spoke sharply, ‘‘Don’t do a stupid thing like that! I shall just need the information. I will myself go to them. In no way should they be offended or shown disrespect.’’
